Book Profits In Syngenta (SYT)

After a market outperformance by 19% over the past 3 months, Syngenta (NYSE: SYT) is currently trading above the historic average PE of 11.6x, providing opportunities to book profits, according to Credit Suisse.

With crop prices likely to remain subdued in 2010, Syngenta will grow at a modest 5% in terms of organic sales, while long term margins are expected to lag behind those of peers. H2 of 2010 is expected to be seasonally quiet and the outlook statement for 2010 is likely to have cautious statements; a fuller view will be available only after Syngenta speaks at the Credit Suisse Ag-productivity conference in March. With a sum of the parts valuation of SFr 270, Credit Suisse has downgraded Syngenta from Outperform to Neutral.